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Ending HIV: The strategy

Of the 35 million people living with HIV today, an estimated 19 million don’t know that they are HIV-positive.

Upon the publication of the UNAIDS Gap Report on July 16, Michel Sidibé declared that, “if we accelerate all HIV scale-up by 2020, we will be on track to end the epidemic by 2030.”

On the margins of the 20th International AIDS Conference, he appealed to the international community to set new treatment goals for 2020:

90% of all people living with HIV should know their HIV status

90% of all people diagnosed with HIV should be receiving HIV treatments

90% of all people being treated for HIV should achieve lasting viral suppression

Experts have clearly identified the priorities: close the gap between the number of people who know their HIV status and those who don’t, and between the number of people who receive HIV services and those who don’t.

While applauding the considerable efforts being made to improve access to treatment, the Gap Report also stresses the critical importance of the commitment of the international community, and that of the countries most affected by HIV/AIDS.
It puts particular emphasis on the need to address multiple complex micro-epidemics with specific, tailored solutions, so that people can be reached faster and with better services.

The report also specifies that equal access to quality HIV services will be imperative, both for human rights and public health reasons.

For this to be possible, we must first remedy the lack of data on the people most affected by HIV, combat stigmatization, discrimination, repressive laws, and any obstacles to collective mobilization, and increase funding.
It is estimated that an annual amount of $22-24 billion would be needed to completely fund an effective anti-HIV program.

By putting an end to the epidemic by 2030, we would avoid 18 million new HIV infections, and 11.2 million AIDS-related deaths.